Irish businesses improved their payment performance by more than five days in the past year, according to the latest insights from ExperianÂ®, the global information services company. Businesses in the Republic of Ireland paid creditor invoices on average 18.66 days beyond invoice terms during April, May and June of 2014, compared with 23.91 days beyond terms during the same period last year. Values since the start of the year have remained relatively consistent, with businesses paying 18.44 days beyond terms in the first quarter of the year, an improvement of 4 days when compared with the final quarter of 2013.

By analysing the payment records of thousands of businesses in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland, including those owned by overseas companies, Experian is able to reveal that:

Businesses in the Republic have been steadily improving their payment performance over the last year, moving from an average of 25.39 DBT in the first quarter of 2013, to the most recent analysis, which shows that businesses now take on average 18.66 days beyond terms to pay their bills.

Businesses in Laois are paying their bills the fastest, averaging 11.88 days beyond terms in the first three months of the year.

Conversely businesses in Carlow are now the slowest to settle their bills averaging 21.90 days beyond terms.

Declan Murphy, Commercial Director at Experian Ireland explains, "Our latest analysis shows a further improvement in the payment performance of Irish companies and is hopefully an indicator that confidence is beginning to return to the SME sector. Being able to predict when you will be paid, how your customers pay their other suppliers, and where in the order of payments you fall is essential to effectively managing your debtor's ledger. Businesses that practice good forward planning and have the right administrative processes for monitoring and addressing late payments are most successful at minimising their impact."

Experian has the largest database of up-to-date commercial payment data in Ireland, which is extracted from more than 6,500 ledgers processed every month.